Toy figure



Oct. 7, 1969 J. v. FERRIOT 3,470,650

TOY FIGURE Filed April 21, 1967 VENTOR. V.FE.RR|OT ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent York Filed Apr. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 632,599 Int. Cl. A63h3/46 US. Cl. 46173 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy figuresimulating a human being and having limb-simulating members such as anupper arm member and a lower arm member. The upper arm member is formedwith a bore passing longitudinally therethrough and this upper armmember has at its lower end an end surface directed toward the lower armmember and situated at one end of the bore of the upper arm member. Anelastomeric joint member, which in cross section is larger than thecross section of the bore of the upper arm member, slidably engages thelatter at its end surface and is situated between the upper and lowerarm members. An elastomeric means is integral with and extends from thejoint member into the bore of the upper arm member and urges the jointmember against the end surface at the lower end of the upper arm memberfor elastically maintaining the joint member in engagement with this endsurface while permitting the joint member to move in all directions withrespect to this end surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to toy figures such asdolls which simulate human beings.

In toy figures of this general type, particular problems are encounteredin the assembly of such components as limb-simulating members not onlywith respect to each other but with respect to body-simulating membersto which the limb members must be connected, and in addition problemsare encountered at the joints between these members. Up to the presenttime relatively complex expensive structures have been required not onlyfor the joints between limb members and body members but also withrespect to the assembly of such components. Thus, not only is itrequired that the upper and lower limb members of a givenlimb-simulating assembly be movable one with respect to the other, butin addition they must be retained assembled with respect to each other,and of course the upper limb member must be movable with respect to abody member and must also be maintained assembled therewith. Theseproblems encountered with respect to the assembly of the components andthe maintenance of a jointed connection therebetween have resulted up tothe present time in relatively complex expensive constructions.Moreover, even with all of the undesirable complications involved in theknown constructions, the desired range of movement for thelimb-simulating members cannot be reliably achieved, with the resultthat the known structures provide only limited possibilities in themovement of the various components of the toy figure.

SUMMARY OF THE INIVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a toy figure which will avoid the abovedrawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a toy figurewherein the various limb components can be assembled with respect toeach other in an exceedingly simple manner which will also function toprovide the required range of movement of the limb members whichsimulates actual movement of the limbs of a human being.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a constructionof this type which will also maintain the limb members assembled with abody member and will provide the required range of movement of the limbmembers with respect to the body member, while at the same timemaintaining the construction exceedingly simple and inexpensive as wellas fully reliable and free from the possibility of defective operation.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide aconstruction of the above general type which can be very easily andquickly assembled, so that the labor costs involved in the toy figure ofthe invention are extremely low.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a constructionof the above type which is composed of an extremely small number ofelements so that the cost of the components of the toy figure of theinvention as well as the operations involved in the assembly thereof arealso maintained at a minimum.

At the same time, it is an object of the invention to provide aconstruction which will fulfill the above objects without in any waysacrificing the quality of the toy figure either with respect to itsappearance or with respect to its capability of movement to variouspositions closely simulating the movement of a human being.

In accordance with the invention, the toy figure includes upper andlower limb members arranged substantially in end-to-end relation andsimulating the limb of a human being, such as an arm or a leg, the upperlimb member simulating an upper arm, for example, while the lower limbmember simulates a lower arm. This upper limb member is formed with abore passing longitudinally therethrough and the upper arm member has anend surface at its lower end directed toward the lower arm member andsituated at the lower end of the bore of the upper arm member. Anelastomeric joint member which in cross section is larger than the crosssection of the bore of the upper arm member is in slidable engagementwith the end surface of the lower end of the upper arm member, and thisjoint member is situated between the upper and lower limb members. Ameans connects the lower limb member to the joint member for swingingmovement relative thereto about an axis which extends transversely withrespect to the upper arm member. An elastomeric means which is integralwith the joint member extends therefrom into the bore of the upper limbmember and urges the joint member into engagement with the end surfaceat the lower end of the upper limb member. In this way the elastomericmeans serves not only to retain the limb members assembled, but inadddition it will retain the joint member at whatever position it ismoved to with respect to the end surface at the lower end of the upperlimb member, so that this single elastomeric means of the inventionserves to retain the components in assembled condition as well as toretain them in whatever positions they are moved to.

This elastic means extends all the way through the bore of the uper limbmember into a hollow body member which slidably engages the upper limbmember at an upper end thereof, and this same elastomeric means servesto maintain the upper limb member in slidable engagement at its upperend with the body member so that the same elastic means also functionsto retain the upper limb member assembled with the body member as wellas to retain the upper limb member in whatever position it is moved towith respect to the body member.

The toy figure includes a second upper limb member identical with thefirst limb member and slidably engaging the body member at a side of thelatter opposed to the first upper limb member, and a second joint memberidentical with the first joint member engages an end surface of thesecond arm member which is situated at the lower end thereof. Theelastomeric means of the invention extends from the first joint memberthrough the bore of the first upper limb member and completely throughthe hollow interior of the body member into the bore of the second armmember and terminates at the second joint member to which theelastomeric means is integrally connected in the same way that it isconnected to the first joint member, so that through this simpleconstruction both upper limb members are maintained assembled with thebody member and will also be retained in whatever positions they aremoved to with respect to the body member.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part beobvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of theinvention, reference is had to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of one possible embodiment of a toyfigure having the structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevation, taken along line 22 of FIG.1 in the direction of the arrows, transversely through the toy figureand shows in sectional elevation the details of the structure of theinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded perspective illustration illustratinghow the components of the structure of the invention are connected toeach other.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings,there is shown in FIG. 1 a toy figure simulating the appearance of amale human being. This figure 10 has an upper body member 12 which ishollow and simulates the upper torso of the figure. The body member 12carries a head-simulating assembly 14. A pair of limb-simulatingassemblies 16a and 16b, which respectively simulate the arms of thefigure, are connected with the body member 12 in a manner described indetail below.

The upper body member 12 is connected in any suitable way to a lowerbody member 18 which in turn has connected thereto the limb-simulatingassemblies 20a and 2011 which respectively simulate the legs of thefigure. It is to be understood that while the description below relatesto the connection of the arm assemblies 16a and 16b to the body member12, it is equally applicable to the connection of the leg assemblies 20aand 20b to the body member 18, and these leg assemblies are eachprovided with upper and lower limb members which can be connected toeach other in the same way that the upper and lower limb members of eachassembly 16a and 16b are connected to each other.

Since the limb-simulating assemblies 16a and 16b are identical, exceptfor differences which will provide right and left hand orientation, thedescription below refers primarily to the assembly 16a, but the samecomponents are indicated with the same reference numerals followed bythe letter b for the assembly 16b.

Thus, the limb assembly 16a includes an upper limb member 22a and alower limb member 24a. The upper limb member 22a is formed with a bore26a passing longitudinally therethrough. The limb members 22a and 24aare arranged substantially in end-to-end relation, and at its lower endthe upper limb member 22a has an annular end surface 28a situated at thelower end of the bore 26a, directed toward the lower limb member 2411,and forming, at least substantially, part of a sphere.

A joint member 30a which in cross section is larger than the crosssection of the bore 26a slidably engages the end surface 28a at thelower end of the upper limb member 22a, and this joint member 30a has anexterior surface which substantially forms part of a sphere.

A means connects the lower limb member 24a to the joint member 30a forswinging movement relative thereto about an axis which extendstransversely with respect to the upper limb member 22a, and this meansincludes a tongue 32a which is integral with the lower limb member 24aand which is received in a notch 34a (FIG. 3) of the joint member 30a.The joint member and the tongue are formed with aligned bores whichreceive a rivet 36a which forms the turning axis for the lower limbmember 24a, so that in this way the lower limb member is connected tothe joint member for swinging movement with respect thereto. It will benoted that the lower limb member has on opposite side of its tongue 32aconcave surfaces also forming substantially part of a sphere andslidably engaging the exterior surface of the joint member 30a. Ifdesired, as indicated in FIG. 2, the inside faces of the tongues 32a and32b may be corrugated to reduce friction from rivets which are too tightand these corrugations may also serve t retain dry lubricant if desired.

The structure of the invention further includes an elastomeric means 40having a pair of elongated, stretchable elastic portions 42a and 42bwhich are respectively integral with the joint member 30a and 30b andwhich extend therefrom all the way through the bores 26a and 26b,respectively, into the hollow interior of the body member 12. In thehollow interior of the body member 12 these portions 42a and 42b of theelastomeric means 40 have, respectively, enlarged ends 44a and 44bengaging each other. A ring 46 extends at least partly around theelongated portions 42a and 42b in the hollow interior of the body member12 in the region of the enlarged ends 44a and 44b thereof, and this ring46 is too small to permit the enlarged ends 44a and 44b to passtherethrough, so that in this way the ring 46 maintains the elongatedportions 42a and 42b of the elastomeric means 40 in engagement with eachother. In addition, the elastomeric portions 42a and 42b of theelastomeric means 40 are maintained in stretched condition by the ring46, so that the elastomeric means 40 serves to urge the upper limbmembers 22a and 22b at their upper ends into slidable engagement withthe body member 12 at the opposite sides of the latter, respectively,where the body member 12 is provided with openings defined by annularsurfaces forming parts of spheres and slidably engaging spherical upperend portions of the upper limb members, as indicated in FIG. 2.Furthermore, the very same elastomeric means is integrally connected atits portions 42a and 42b with the joint members 30a and 30b which are ofthe same elastomeric material so that it serves in addition to urgethese joint members against the lower end surfaces of the upper limbmembers 22a and 22b. Thus, this single elastomeric means 40 of theinvention serves on the one hand to maintain the components shown inFIG. 2 in assembled condition and on the other hand to retain thesecomponents in whatever position they are moved to with respect to eachother. Thus, the elastomeric means will frictionally retain either ofthe upper limb members in whatever position it is moved to with respectto the body member 12. Furthermore, the joint member 30 is movable inall directions with respect to the end surface 28a and will be retainedin whatever position it is moved to with respect to the latter endsurface by the elastic means 40. The operations at the other limb member22b are identical.

Thus, through this exceedingly simple structure of the present inventionwhich is composed of only a relatively small number of parts it ispossible to retain all of the components in assembled condition as wellas to provide for these components the required range of movement withrespect to each other and to retain the components in whatever positionsthey are moved to.

The structure of the invention may be made of any suitable materialssuch as any molded plastic well known in the art. For example,polyethylene may be used for the components, although rubber could alsobe used, if desired. In addition, the joints 30a and 30b as well as theelastomeric means 40 which is integral therewith may be made of anystretchable elastic plastic or the like or they may be made also ofrubber.

In their unstretched conditions, the elastic portions 42a and 42b of theelastomeric means 40 have their enlarged ends 44a and 44b, respectively,situated in the regions of the upper ends of the limb members 22a and22b. The bores 26a and 26b are large enough to permit the enlarged ends44a and 44b to pass upwardly through these bores to the regions of theupper ends of the limb members 22a and 22b, while the joint members 30aand 3012 will of course be prevented from moving beyond the lower endsurfaces of the limb members 22a and 22b.

As one possible method for assembling the components, the enlarged ends44:: and 44b are respectively provided with openings 48a and 48b passingtherethrough. The ring 46 is initially in the form of a wire hog noseclamp which is in an open condition with its ends spread apart from eachother. Also, before the elastic means has the condition shown in FIG. 2,the head assembly 14 has not yet been joined to the body member 12 sothat the interior of the latter is accessible through its upper open endwhich is visible in FIG. 2. i

In order to assemble the structure a pair of special pliers which havecurved jaws provided with tips which are bent toward each other isapplied to the enlarged ends 44a and 44b of the elastomeric means 40.The curved tips of the plier jaws are placed in the openings 48a and48b, respectively, these pliers initially extending downwardly throughthe top open end of the body member 12 before the head assembly 14 isjoined thereto, and then the plier jaws are advanced toward each otherso as to stretch the elastic portions 42a and 42b into the conditionshown in FIG. 2 and so as to bring the enlarged ends 44a and 44b intoengagement with each other. In fact, the enlarged ends may be pulled bythe pliers upwardly through the top open end of the body member 12 so asto be accessible at the exterior thereof. In this condition the spreadring 46 is placed around the elastic portions 42a and 42b just beneaththeir enlarged ends 44a and 44b, and then with a suitable tool the wirering 46 is clinched so that its ends will be located directly next toeach other, as indicated in FIG. 3, and, as was indicated above, in thiscondition the opening defined by the ring 46 is too small to permit theenlarged ends 44a and 44b to pass through the ring 46. Now theinterconnected elastic portions 42a and 42b can be released for movementinto the hollow body member 12 to the position shown in FIG. 2, thisbeing the position which the structure takes due to its own inherentresiliency. Then the head assembly 14 is assembled with the body member12 in the manner indicated in FIG. 2. In this simple way it is possibleto assemble the upper limb members 22a and 22b with the body member 12,and all of the above-described advantages of the invention are achievedboth with respect to this assembly as well as with respect to themaintenance of the components in the positions to which they are movedas well as with respect to the large range of possible movement whichclosely simulates the movement of the limbs of a human figure.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy figure, a pair of limb-simulating members arrangedsubstantially in end-to-end relation and including an upper limb memberand a lower limb member, one of said members having in the region of theother of said limb members an end surface directed toward said otherlimb member and said one limb member being formed with a hollow interiorbore terminating at said end surface thereof, an elastomeric jointmember situated between said limb members and having a transverse crosssection larger than the transverse cross section of said bore of saidone limb member, said joint member engaging said end surface of said onelimb member and engaging the other of said limb members at an endportion of the latter which is adjacent said one limb mem ber, meansconnecting said other limb member to said joint member for swingingmovement relative thereto about an axis extending transversely of saidone limb member, said joint member itself being slidably movable at saidend surface of said one limb member in all directions with respectthereto, and elastomeric means integral with said joint member,extending therefrom into said bore of said one limb member, andelastically urging said joint member against said end surface of saidone limb member for retaining said joint member at said end surface atany position to which said joint member has been moved with respect tosaid end surface.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said joint member has asubstantially spherical exterior surface and said end surface of saidone member forms part of a sphere and conforms substantially to theconfiguration of the exterior surface of said joint member.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said means connecting saidother limb member to said joint member includes a tongue fixed to andextending from one of the latter members, the other of the lattermembers being formed with a notch receiving said tongue, and said meansincluding a rivet extending through said other of said latter members,across said notch thereof, and through said tongue.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said one limb member is saidupper limb member and is provided at its lower end with said end surfacedirected toward said lower limb member.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein a hollow body member slidablyengages said upper limb member at an upper end thereof distant from saidlower limb member so that said upper limb member is movable with respectto said body member at the region of said upper end of said upper limbmember, said bore of said upper limb member extending longitudinallytherethrough into communication with the interior of said hollow bodymember, and said elastomeric means extending from said joint memberthrough said bore of said upper limb member into the interior of saidbody member for maintaining said upper limb member assembled with saidbody member and movable with respect thereto, said elestomeric meansalso retaining said upper limb member at any position to which it ismoved with respect to said body member.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein a second upper limb membersubstantially identical with said firstmentioned upper limb memberslidably engages said body member at a side of the latter opposed to thelocation where said first-mentioned limb member slidably engages saidbody member, a second elastomeric joint member engaging said secondupper limb member in the same way that said first-mentioned joint memberengages said first-mentioned upper limb member, and said elastomericmeans extending from the interior of said body member through saidsecond upper limb member to said second joint member and being integralwith the latter for urging the latter against said end surface of saidsecond upper limb member, whereby said elastomeric means maintains bothof said upper limb members assembled with said body member and willretain said upper limb members at any position to which they are movedwith respect to said body member.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said body member simulates anupper torso portion of a human figure while said upper limb memberssimulate upper arm portions of a human figure.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said elastomeric meansincludes a pair of elongated elastic portions respectively extendingfrom said joint members into the hollow interior of said body member andhaving in the latter enlarged ends, respectively, engaging each other,and a ring situated in said hollow body member extending at least partlyaround said elongated portions of said elastomeric means in the regionof said enlarged ends thereof and said ring being too small for passageof said enlarged ends therethrough so that said ring maintains said endsof said portions of said elestomeric means in engagement with eachother, and said ring also maintaining said elastomeric means instretched condition.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT PESHOCK, Primary ExaminerH. DINITZ, Assistant Examiner

